Things to do in Barcelona

Things to do in Barcelona follow two street plans. The old city by the harbour began as a Roman colony. The Eixample behind it follows a plan approved in 1859: blocks 113 metres square, every corner cut off.

The old city, the hill and the sea

Ciutat Vella, the old city, spans El Raval, the Gothic Quarter, El Born and Barceloneta.

• Gothic Quarter. The cathedral was begun in 1298, but its façade is nineteenth-century. Remains of Roman Barcino lie below Plaça del Rei.
• El Born. Santa Maria del Mar, built from 1329 to 1383, and the Picasso Museum in five Gothic palaces.
• La Rambla. 1.2 kilometres from Plaça de Catalunya to the harbour, past the Boqueria market, recorded from 1217.
• Barceloneta. Begun in 1754 for families displaced by the Ciutadella, and now facing the beach.
• Montjuïc. The hill over the port: a castle, the national art museum and the Magic Fountain of 1929.

Gaudí and the grid

Gaudí anchors many tours in Barcelona, and six of his seven UNESCO-listed works stand here.

• Sagrada Família. Begun in 1882 and still unfinished. Its 172.5-metre central tower makes it the tallest church in the world.
• Park Güell. Laid out between 1900 and 1914, public since 1926. Only the monumental zone is ticketed.
• Passeig de Gràcia. Casa Batlló and La Pedrera stand on it. Casa Vicens, his first major house, is in Gràcia.
• Domènech i Montaner. The Palau de la Música Catalana and Sant Pau hospital, both UNESCO-listed.

Where the day trips go

• Montserrat. An abbey founded in 1025, 48 kilometres north-west. Trains take about an hour, then a cable car or rack railway.
• Girona. 99 kilometres north-east, under 40 minutes by high-speed train. The Costa Brava lies further east.
• Tarragona and Priorat. Roman Tarragona lies about an hour south by train. Priorat shares Spain's top wine rank with Rioja, and Poblet abbey dates from 1151.
• Besalú and Rupit. A seven-arched Romanesque bridge, and a village entered by a hanging footbridge.

Practical

• Weather. January afternoons reach about 14C, August ones about 29C. The sea peaks near 26C, and autumn is the wettest season.
• Booking ahead. Sagrada Família entry is timed, and latecomers are refused. Park Güell tickets are sold online in advance.
• Mondays. The Picasso Museum closes every Monday.
• Transport. A ten-journey T-casual card costs under half of ten singles and can be shared. The Aerobus takes about 35 minutes from the airport.
• Meals. Lunch is around two and dinner from nine.
• Pickpockets. They work metro platforms and monument queues.